The Ministry of Coal's response in the Parliament in July 2023 highlighted the issue of delayed compensation after the acquisition of land in 2004 under the Coal Bearing Areas (Acquisition and Development) Act, 1957, in Jharkhand's Ramgarh district.
While the response only mentioned the plight of Kedla village, it was found that even the residents of the neighbouring Ichakdih and Laiyo villages were unhappy as the Central Coalfields Limited (CCL) had denied compensation or offered inadequate reparations to them.
The central government subsidiary acquired land in Kedla village in 1984, 1996, and 2004 for coal mining in the Kedla underground and open-cast mines. In 1984, the land was also acquired in Ichakdih and Laiyo villages for Jharkhand collieries and Layio underground mining projects, respectively.
The Rajya Sabha response talked about the delayed compensation for 17.47 acres of tenancy or raiyat land i.e. the land held by a person who has a right to hold it primarily for cultivation directly under the government. However, the total land acquired in that year was 475.40 acres including the Gair Marzua land (deemed forest, common land) and the company promised to provide compensation even to those who had build houses on such lands.
The CCL had stated that it was the Jharkhand government that held up the compensation, but the latter alleged that the coal company had not given them documents for verification.
In Ichakdih village, three villagers displayed documents showing how they had been awaiting employment for a long time but were denied eventually for asking about it "too late." They alleged that about 86 families in their village had suffered a similar fate.
They further explained that it took years for them to collect paperwork (genealogical trees, revenue receipts), attest them and made revision every time those were sent back with more requests. However, in the end, the CCL denied them jobs citing an order where the Jharkhand High Court order had denied tenants compensation for requesting it beyond a reasonable time. The court order didn't involve anyone from the Ichakdih village but was regarding a similar case in a different district.
The Laiyo villagers were offered compensation but at a rate "less than the market rate" that they didn't accept at the time. The money was eventually put in the treasury. Here the CCL had violated the CBA provision by not negotiating with the land losers before deciding on the compensation amount. While the villagers were free to approach a tribunal or high court to demand more compensation, they alleged they were illiterate and poor, so neither did they know how to express grievances nor did they have the resources to hire lawyers.
The 9-10 residents who expressed grievances of their respective villages used to be cultivators before the agricultural land from which they sustained their families was acquired for coal mining. Now these people were forced to become daily labourers and depended on their wages to buy food. Sarpanch of Ichakdih village Chhaya Kumari claimed that this was the trend across Ramgarh wherever coal mining had been initiated.
Demand/Contention of the Affected Community
Demand for compensation
Demand for more compensation than promised
Demand for employment
Other Demand/Contention of the Affected Community
Region Classification
Rural
Type of Land
Common
Non-Forest (Other than Grazing Land)
What was the action taken by the police?
How many people did the police detain or arrest?
What is the current status of the detained/accused persons?
Did the person face any violence while in police custody?
If any arrests took place, were the accused persons produced before a judge within 24 hours of the arrest?
If the accused was not produced before a magistrate within 24 hours, or not produced at all, what were the reasons?
Legislation under which the accused was charged
Was the accused person informed of their right to legal representation? Did the accused person have access to legal aid?
In cases where the accused person approached the court for bail, was bail granted?
Why was bail granted or rejected? If granted, what were the bail conditions and quantum of bail?
Details of sources (names of accused, names and numbers of any lawyers, names of any police officers contacted)
Status of Project
Project underway despite protests
Original Project Deadline
Whether the Project has been Delayed
No
Significance of Land to Land Owners/Users
Agricultural land
Whether the project was stalled due to land conflict
No
Source/Reference
Total investment involved (in Crores):
₹
17.3
Type of investment:
Investment Made
Year of Estimation
1979
Has the Conflict Ended?
No
When did it end?
Why did the conflict end?
Categories of Legislations Involved in the Conflict
Legislations/Policies Involved
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Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
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Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Whether claims/objections were made as per procedure in the relevant statute
Yes
What was the claim(s)/objection(s) raised by the community?
What was the Decision of the Concerned Government Department?
Legal Processes and Loopholes Enabling the Conflict:
Delay in compensation
Non-payment of compensation/promised compensation
Legal Status:
In Court
Status of Case In Court
Disposed
Whether any adjudicatory body was approached
Yes
Name of the adjudicatory body
Name(s) of the Court(s)
Jharkhand High Court
Case Number
WP No. 833/2013, WP 6358/2017
Main Reasoning/Decision of court
Major Human Rights Violations Related to the Conflict:
Whether criminal law was used against protestors:
Reported Details of the Violation:
Date of Violation
Location of Violation
Jharkhand
Kumar Sambhav is a social entrepreneur and award-winning journalist, leading innovative research in accountability investigations. He is the founder of Land Conflict Watch and is currently working as India Research Lead with Princeton University’s Digital Witness Lab.
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